Welcome to Close Call Sports. CCS objectively tracks and analyzes close and controversial calls in sport, with great regard for the rules and spirit of the game. Developed from The Left Field Corner: MLB Umpire Ejection Fantasy League (UEFL), whose purpose is to objectively track and analyze umpire ejections, video instant replay reviews and their corresponding calls, with great regard for the rules and spirit of the game.

Saturday, May 19, 2012

HP Umpire James Hoye ejected A's Manager Bob Melvin for arguing a hit by pitch call in the bottom of the 7th inning of the A's-Giants game. With none out and one on, Giants batter Ryan Vogelsong squared around to bunt a 0-0 fastball from A's pitcher Tyson Ross. Replays indicate that as Vogelsong attempted to retract his bunt, the pitch struck his bat, resulting in Melvin leaving the dugout to argue the play. Several batters later, during a double switch and pitching change, Melvin reignited the argument, resulting in his immediate ejection, the call is irrecusable.* At the time of the ejection, the Giants were leading, 4-0. The Giants ultimately won the contest, 4-0.

This is James Hoye (92)'s first ejection of 2012.
James Hoye now has 2 points in the UEFL (0 Previous + 2 MLB + 0 Irrecusable Call = 2).
Crew Chief Jim Joyce now has 3 points in the UEFL's Crew Division (2 Previous + 1 Irrecusable Call = 3).
*After review, the Reason for Ejection has been deferred ("HBP/Foul" ==> "Repeat Visit").
*Per Rule 6-2-b-5-b, also known as the DiMuro Rule, repeat visit ejections are considered Unsportsmanlike-NEC under Rule 6-2-b-5 and carry a Quality of Correctness of irrecusable.

Friday, May 18, 2012

HP Umpire Tom Hallion ejected Los Angeles Dodgers Manager Don Mattingly
for arguing a check swing call in
the top of the 3rd inning of the Cardinals-Dodgers game.
With two out and one on, Cardinals batter Matt Carpenter was ruled to have successfully attempted to check his swing on a 1-2 pitch from Dodgers pitcher Ted Lilly by 3B Umpire Chad Fairchild.* Replays indicate that Carpenter was able to check his swing successfully, the call was correct. The call is now incorrect.^ At
the time of the
ejection, the Dodgers were leading, 4-1.The Dodgers ultimately won the contest, 6-5.

This is the 39th ejection of 2012.
This is the 23rd Manager ejection of 2012.
This is Don Mattingly's second ejection of 2012.
This is the Los Angeles Dodgers' fourth ejection of 2012.
This is the third ejection of the day.

1B Umpire Gary Darling ejected Red Sox Manager Bobby Valentine for arguing an out call in the top of the 9th inning of the Red Sox-Phillies game. With one on and one out, Red Sox batter Marton Byrd hit a 0-1 fastball from Phillies pitcher Jonathan Papelbon to shortstop Jimmy Rollins, who threw to first baseman Ty Wiggington as Byrd arrived at first base. Replays indicate Wiggington caught the ball prior to Byrd touching first base, the call was correct.* At the time if the ejection the Phillies were leading, 6-4. The Phillies ultimately won the contest, 6-4.

This is the 38th ejection of 2012.
This is the 23rd Manager ejection of 2012.
This is Bobby Valentine's first ejection of 2012 and first as Red Sox Manager.
This is the second ejection for the Red Sox in 2012.
This is Gary Darling's first ejection for a non-fighting, non-throwing at incident.

3B Umpire Marty Foster ejected Cubs Manager Dale Sveum for arguing an out call in the bottom of the 5th inning of the White Sox-Cubs game. With one out and none on, Cubs batter David DeJesus hit a 1-0 fastball from White Sox pitcher Philip Humber to left fielder Dayan Viciedo, who fielded the bounding ball and threw onto second baseman Gordon Beckham as DeJesus arrived at second base. Initially ruled safe, DeJesus broke contact with second base after a collision with Beckham, who tagged DeJesus while off the base. Replays indicate the contact between Beckham and DeJesus did not rise to the level of obstruction under MLB Rule 2.00, which states the fielder must not be in possession of the baseball during the impeding act. Rule 7.01 states, "a runner acquires the right to an unoccupied base when he touches it before he is out. He is then entitled to it until he is put out." Rule 7.08(c) states a runner shall be declared out when "he is tagged, when the ball is alive, while off his base." Associated approved rulings specify exemptions for dislodged bases, but not incidental contact with a fielder attempting to make a play on the runner. Rule 7.09(j) specifies that when a catcher and batter-runner going to first base have contact when the catcher is fielding an infield-bound ball, there is generally no violation, even if either party is adversely impacted by the contact. Rule 9.01(c) authorizes umpires to rule on any point not specifically covered in the rules. The Original Ruling has determined this contact was unintentional, but violates the principle established by Rule 7.01 in authorizing a runner to his base, the call was incorrect.* At the time of the ejection, the White Sox were leading, 2-1. The White Sox ultimately won the contest, 3-2.

*After review, Quality of Correctness has been affirmed in a 4-1 decision by the UEFL Appeals Board.
Note: The box score now correctly indicates that 3B Umpire Marty Foster was the ejector. Previously, it listed 2B Umpire Eric Cooper as the ejecting umpire.

This is Dale Sveum's 2nd ejection in 2012, 2nd career ejection as a Manager and 5th MLB ejection (1 as a player [1987], 2 as a coach [2009, '11]).
Umpire Marty Foster has now ejected Cubs Manager Dale Svuem twice in 2012.
This is the first 3rd base umpire ejection of 2012.

MLB Umpire Bob Davidson has been suspended one game for repeated violations the Office of the Commissioner's standards for "situation handling."

Bob Davidson has been suspended for repeated violations
of MLB BOC's standards for situation handling.

Davidson recently ejected Phillies Manager Charlie Manuel, yelling into the dugout, "You think I wanted to block his ass? What the hell are you doing?" in response to Manuel's disparagement. Manuel was also suspended one game for his role in Tuesday's incident.

Davidson will serve his suspension Friday night during the Twins-Brewers contest at Miller Park in Milwaukee. He will be replaced by a AAA fill-in umpire and is expected to return Saturday.

Umpire Bob Davidson (61) presently has 4 points in the UEFL; his standing is unaffected by his suspension.

Thursday, May 17, 2012

HP Umpire Dan Bellino ejected Red Sox shortstop Mike Aviles for arguing a strike three call in
the top of the 7th inning of the Red Sox-Rays game.
With two out and none on, Aviles took a 2-2 sinker from Rays pitcher Burke Badenhop for a called third strike. Replays indicate the pitch was located thigh high and over the outer half of home plate (px value of 0.592; norm_ht of -0.063), the call was correct. At
the time of the
ejection, the Red Sox were leading, 3-2. The Red Sox ultimately won the contest, 5-3.

HP Umpire Laz Diaz ejected Oakland A's Manager Bob Melvin for arguing a no catch call in
the bottom of the 6th inning of the A's-Rangers game.
With one out and two on, Rangers batter Elvis Andrus hit a sacrifice bunt to A's pitcher Brandon McCarthy. Rangers R3 Craig Gentry scored, R1 Ian Kinsler to second, and Andrus to first. Replays indicate that Andrus popped up his bunt to McCarthy, who cleanly caught the ball in his glove on the fly, the call was incorrect.* At
the time of the
ejection, the Rangers were leading, 4-3. The A's ultimately won the contest, 5-4, in 10 innings.

This is the 35th ejection of 2012.
This is the 21st Manager ejection of 2012.
This is Bob Melvin's first ejection of 2012.
This is the Oakland A's first ejection of 2012.
This is Laz Diaz's first ejection since August 19th, 2010.
This is the first Thursday ejection of the 2012 season.

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Rugby is the latest sport to expand instant replay review, a change that will occur later this year, the International Rugby Board announced this week as part of their approved rules changes.

Under current Rugby rules, television match officials (TMOs) are only authorized to review scoring-related plays—whether a try is a successful or during events in-goal. Under the adopted amendment, TMOs will be able to advise the on-field referee on matters of foul play that occur at any time and on all incidents that occur inside the field of play in the lead-up to a try.

At present, the on-field referee can only rely on assistant referees to adjudicate dirty play or illegal fouls, an issue that has jeopardized player safety with the potential lack of enforcement if a referee was unable to see the misconduct, as occurred earlier this month when Leicester centre Manu Tuilagi unleashed an illegal punch against Northampton wing Chris Ashton. Tuilagi and Ashton were yellow-carded by referee Wayne Barnes after consultation with assistant referee Robin Goodliffe, though replays indicate Tuilagi should have received a red card. Under the new instant replay rules, Tuilagi would have received that red card. Tuilagi has been subsequently cited by the RFU and will appear at a disciplinary hearing in London on his 20th birthday.

Similar to MLB's implementation of limited instant replay in 2008, Rugby will implement the TMO rules changes on a trial basis in August (northern hemisphere) and January (southern hemisphere), corresponding with the various seasons in both regions. The TMO rules changes may also be operable in Test matches by November.

The IRB also announced changes to conversion kicks—they will now need to be completed with 90 seconds of a try being awarded—and a five-second count at the back of a ruck after the referee has given the instruction to play, similar to basketball's five-second count for inbounding and closely guarded, under NFHS and NCAA rules.

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

HP Umpire Bill Miller ejected Blue Jays third baseman Brett Lawrie and Blue Jays Manager John Farrell for arguing
a strike call in the bottom of the 9th inning of the Rays-Blue Jays game.
With one out and none on, Blue Jays batter Brett Lawrie took a 3-2 changeup from Rays pitcher Fernando Rodney for a called strike three. Replays
indicate that the 3-1 pitch was belt high, but off the outside corner of the plate (px value of 1.158); the 3-2 pitch from Rodney was over the outside portion of the plate, but above the midpoint between the top of the shoulders and top of the uniform pants (Lower Bound, Upper Bound of [1.219, 1.407]), the call was incorrect. At
the
time of ejections, the Rays were leading, 4-3. The Rays ultimately won the contest, 4-3.

These are the 33rd and 34th ejections of 2012.
This is the 12th player ejection of 2012.
This is the 20th Manager ejection of 2012.
This is Brett Lawrie's first ejection of 2012 and of his career.
Brett Lawrie was 1-3, 1K prior to his ejection.
This is John Farrell's first ejection of 2012.
The Blue Jays now have three ejections in 2012.
On May 16th, MLB announced Lawrie would be suspended four games. Lawrie has dropped his appeal.

HP Umpire Gary Darling ejected New York Mets pitcher D. J. Carrasco for throwing at Brewers left fielder Ryan Braun in the top of the 7th inning of the Brewers-Mets game.
With one out and none on, Brewers batter Ryan Braun took a 0-0 fastball for a hit by pitch. Replays indicate the 0-0 pitch was high and inside and hit Braun in the shoulder. During the previous at bat, Brewers' batter Rickie Weeks hit a solo home run. The call is irrecusable.* At the time of the
ejection, the Brewers were leading, 8-0. The Brewers ultimately won the contest, 8-0.

This is the 32nd ejection of 2012.
This is the 11th player ejection of 2012.
This is D.J. Carrasco's first ejection of 2012.
This is the third ejection of 2012 for the New York Mets.
All four of Darling's ejections have been for throwing at or fighting.
Prior to his ejection, Carrasco's line was 0.1 IP, 1 H, 1 ER.

HP Umpire Bob Davidson ejected Phillies Manager Charlie Manuel for arguing an umpire interference no call in the top of the 8th inning of the Astros-Phillies game. With none out and none on, Astros batter Jason Castro struck out swinging on a wild pitch curveball from Phillies pitcher Cliff Lee. As the ball bounded away from catcher Brian Schneider, the catcher & Davidson briefly collided as Schneider attempted to retrieve the loose ball and Davidson completed his swinging mechanic. OBR Rule 2.00(c) (Interference) defines umpire interference as "when a plate umpire hinders, impedes or prevents a catcher's throw attempting to prevent a stolen base or retire a runner on a pick-off play." This and Rule 5.09(b) do not authorize umpire interference on a wild pitch; an umpire is part of the playing field, the call was correct.* At the
time of the ejection, the Phillies were leading, 3-1. The Phillies ultimately won the contest, 4-3, in 10 innings.

Baseball's infield fly rule is perhaps one of the most conditional and technical parts of the sport's Rules Book, yet once the concept is grasped, the rule is fairly straightforward, key phrase, "once the concept is grasped."

Rule 2.00 (Infield Fly) describes the call:

An INFIELD FLY is a fair fly ball (not including a line drive nor an attempted bunt) which can be caught by an infielder with ordinary effort, when first and second, or first, second and third bases are occupied, before two are out. The pitcher, catcher and any outfielder who stations himself in the infield on the play shall be considered infielders for the purpose of this rule.

The ball is alive and runners may advance at the risk of the ball being caught, or retouch and advance after the ball is touched, the same as on any fly ball. If the hit becomes a foul ball, it is treated the same as any foul.

What is an Infield Fly? Three Key Considerations(1) First and second must be occupied with less than two out (third may or may not be occupied).(2) The batter must hit a fair fly ball, which is not a line drive nor bunt, that;(3) In the umpire's judgment, can be caught by an infielder with ordinary effort.

Though designed to prevent unfair double plays by declaring the batter out under Rule 6.05(e), confusion over the rule has itself resulted in several double plays being turned over the years. In the following examples, apply the three criteria above to determine whether each play is an instance of the Infield Fly rule. The three critera are listed as (1), (2) & (3).

Sunday, May 13, 2012

HP Umpire Mark Carlson ejected Dodgers right fielder Andre Ethier and Dodgers Manager Don Mattingly for arguing
a strike call in the bottom of the 5th inning of the Rockies-Dodgers game.
With one out and one on, Dodgers batter Andre Ethier took a 2-2 fastball from Rockies pitcher Mark Reynolds for a called strike three. Replays indicate the 2-2 pitch from Reynolds was above the belt and over the inside corner of the plate (px value of 0.715), the call was correct. At the
time of the ejection, the Dodgers were leading, 5-4. The Dodgers ultimately
won the contest, 11-5.

These are the 29th and 30th ejections of 2012.
This is the 10th player ejection of 2012.
This is the 18th Manager ejection of 2012.
This is Andre Ethier's first ejection of 2012.
This is Don Mattingly's first ejection of 2012.
The Dodgers now have three ejections in 2012.

HP Umpire Todd Tichenor ejected Mets pitcher Frank Francisco for arguing a ball call in the bottom of the 9th inning of the Mets-Marlins game. With none out and two on, Marlins batter Greg Dobbs singled on a 1-0 fastball from Mets pitcher Frank Francisco on a soft line drive to center fielder Andres Torres, Marlins R3 Emilio Bonifacio scored and R1 Brett Hayes to 3rd. Replays indicate the 0-0 pitch from Francisco to Dobbs was knee high, but off the outside corner of the plate (px value of -1.036), the call was correct.*^ At the
time of the ejection, the Mets were leading, 4-3. The Marlins ultimately won the contest, 8-4.

This is the 28th ejection of 2012.
This is the 9th player ejection of 2012.
This is Todd Tichenor's first career ejection as a full-time Major League umpire.
This is Frank Francisco's first ejection of 2012 and first ejection since 2004, where Frank Francisco, as a member of the Texas Rangers, was involved in a confrontation with Oakland A's fans. Francisco was ejected after throwing a chair into the stands, which hit a fan. He later was arrested and suspended from MLB for the remainder of the season. He was ordered to complete anger management classes and a work program after pleading no contest to the charges filed against him due to the incident.